Local sport legends ever impress
Asher Biggs' 2017 athletics season just gets better and better. On Sunday the Curro Nelspruit pupil ran the fastest running split to win gold in the 18 to 19 male category at the South African Triathlon Championships, held at the Aldam Holiday Resort, Free State.
Asher finished the race in a time of 01:05:36.
Not only is Asher’s triathlon season going well, but he was also recently chosen to attend the Athletics South Africa nationals in Cape Town when he recently ran the qualifying time for the 800 metres at the Mpumalanga champs.
Ehlanzeni’s Roger Mortlock provided the other highlight performance on Sunday with his second-place finish in 30 to 34 category and sixth spot on the overall results table. Although he said the strong winds made the swim leg difficult, he was happy with his time of 02:11:54.
I made a big improvement on last year and so I am satisfied with the end result. The waves were pretty large, which made the swim interesting, but the conditions would have affected everyone’s times,” Mortlock said.
Asher’s mother, Melisa, said the family is “unashamedly but humbly proud”.
Lots of hard work, waking up at 04:30 at least six days a week, and the dedication and perseverance are truly paying off,” she said.
White River’s athletics star, Dylan Nortjé, won gold in the u/23 male category, which also scored him an overall third-place finish in the elite race with his time of 02:05:12. He competed for Tshwane Triathlon Association, as he currently trains at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria.
This was my hardest race to date but also one of the most exciting. Everything came together on the day. It was a small but very strong field of competitors,” Nortjé told Lowvelder.
The field of athletes at the SA Triathlon Championships consisted of nearly 20 elite athletes, seven paratriathletes, and more than 300 in the 20+, junior 12 to 15, and 16 to 19 age groups.
Ehlanzeni Triathlon Association’s Frans Mentz said he was incredibly impressed by all the triathletes who took part.
“We had a number of top-10 finishes across the age categories and considering it was our first event, we are very proud,” he said.
Elsa de Beer just missed out on a bronze medal with her fourth-place finish in the 40 to 44 female category with a time of 03:01:54. Richard Joubert, Bruce Leslie, Frans-Josef Mentz, Donna Green, Grozelle Stoltz, Nicolas Smook, Kyla Labuschagne and Gerrit Engelbrecht also finished in the top 10 of their respective age groups.
• Detailed results can be found at results.spectrumsport.co.za.
